In Brief - February 2nd, 2008
Only twenty four hours are left before the Super Bowl kickoff. Odds are, it'll be a great game between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants - the wild card Giants are hungry to prove themselves, while the Patriots would love to finish off the season undefeated. As they're saying in Arizona...who wants it more? We'll see.
In the Pacific Northwest
previously an Edwards supporter, has switched to Obama. Meanwhile, in a rapid move to gauge the sense of their 3.2 million members after Edwards' withdrawal, MoveOn.org has polled their members for a preference. Obama won the vote with a decisive 70% supermajority. And, just for good measure, the Los Angeles Times has jumped on board too. Goooooo Obama!
CORRECTION: It turns out Mayor Nickels wasn't an Edwards supporter. He was hoping Al Gore would run for president, but when that didn't happen, he endorsed Barack Obama. Thanks for setting the record straight, Mr. Mayor. We regret the error.
Around the World
In the Pacific Northwest
- Raise your hand if you agree that the Electoral College just isn't working out in America's best interests. I'd raise mine, except then both hands would in the air and I couldn't type this post. Washington's Legislature is considering a proposal to help do something about it. HB 1750: Adopting the interstate agreement for the election of the president of the United States by national popular vote.
- David Postman has filed an excellent piece on the struggles of one family of Washington wheat farmers. If I were this family, I'd be seriously trying to figure out how I could sell my crop locally to a bread company, brewery, or some consumer like that, eliminate a bunch of middlemen, and get higher prices for it in the bargain. I can't help but wonder what the roadblocks would be in doing that, problems I know nothing about because I'm not a farmer.
- Idaho Governor Otter underwent hip surgery Monday. Instead of launching into a screed about his access to health insurance that most of us can't afford, I will simply offer our best wishes for his speedy recovery.
- Pacific Ethanol is going to build a test cellulose-to-ethanol plant in Boardman, Oregon. Nifty! It's high time people (especially in Iowa, if the news reaches that far) come to understand that we should be looking at non-food-crop sources for ethanol production.
- Once again, you are what you eat. Presented here is a study of pesticide levels in Mercer Island kids who ate organic diets versus conventional diets.
- Everything old is new again, part 1: Guess what? Ten years ago the Axis of Evil--er, sorry, the Project for the New American Century--tried to get Bill Clinton to invade Iraq. You have to read between the lines of PNAC's letter a little bit to see their aim, but it's pretty clear. Be sure to read the list of signatories to the letter, a veritable rogue's gallery of Bush administration string pullers and enablers.
- Everything old is new again, part 2: Didn't we hear honest analysts saying that Sadaam and Bin Laden weren't allies of any sort before the war? I'm pretty sure we did... (Note that the link goes to a video.)
- This item brought to you by the good folks at RedState: Commie pinko terrorist sympathizers undermine Ohio voting procedures. Okay, not really. I made that up. But how else do you think RedState would spin a story about the ACLU seeking to block use of unfair voting machines in the Buckeye State?
- "The debate isn't security versus privacy. It's liberty versus control." Cryptography uber-expert Bruce Schneier gets it 100% right. If only National Intelligence Director Michael McConnel did, too. Click the link already.
- The Story of Stuff is a really fabulous 20 minute Flash video showing the hidden costs of our material society. If this isn't the next Great Internet Meme, it should be. Watch it now before your friends e-mail you the link!
CORRECTION: It turns out Mayor Nickels wasn't an Edwards supporter. He was hoping Al Gore would run for president, but when that didn't happen, he endorsed Barack Obama. Thanks for setting the record straight, Mr. Mayor. We regret the error.
Around the World
- I know the stereotypical vision of the Japanese corporation is mandatory monotone suits and ties, all business all the time. One Japanese firm bucks that trend with some unusual time-off policies that might play well elsewhere in the world too.
- Blizzards in China are destroying crops, interrupt transportation, and cause food shortages. The storms are already being compared to Hurricane Katrina.
- Sixty years after Mahatma Gandhi's tragic assassination, the Great Soul's final ashes are spread at sea.
- 1790: The U.S. Supreme Court convenes for the first time, in New York City. Once upon a time, if you recall your gradeschool history classes, NYC was the nation's capital...
- 1861: Civil War deja vu: Texas secedes from the United States. Considering who they've saddled us with as president for 12 of the past 20 years, I have to wonder, did they ever really come back?
- 1960: Four black students sit down to have lunch in Greensboro, North Carolina. I know I can be cynical about this stuff, but let's think about this for a second. Forty-eight years ago, these kids risked their lives to stand up for their civil rights. And five days ago, not so far away from Greensboro, a black man won the South Carolina primary in a 28-point landslide. I call that progress.
Comments:
see video: MoveOn.org Pushes the Worst (Clinton and Obama) while ignoring Gravel for President
MoveOn is doing such a disservice to the American people. MoveOn is undermining efforts to end the war. MoveOn pushes candidates who ignore the US Constitution and International Law. Obama openly violates international law by threatening Iran with an attack.
http://representativepress.googlepages.com/MoveOn.htm
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